Various finger rings adapted for interchanging gemstones are known in the prior art., For example, U.S. Pat. No. 873,156 to C. Moe, relates to a ring for displaying gems. The ring has a cut shank and separable, resilient holding prongs for rapid removal and replacement of different gems having like sizes and shapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,376 to Willner, discloses a finger ring with open shank and a housing cast onto each of the shank ends for holding an ornamental ball within the opposed housings by resilience of the shank.
These prior art rings for interchangeable gemstones are found to be somewhat complex and, therefore, they are expensive to manufacture. The retaining portion may not be sufficiently durable to withstand repeated insertion and removal of the gems. As such, those prior art rings were subject to malfunction and breakage. Additionally, the shanks were subject to loss of resilience or tension, due to lack of any specialized process for manufacturing the shanks.
An object of the invention is to provide a finger ring for interchanging gemstones which could be inexpensively manufactured. Such ring would have a basic simplicity and no moving parts, but still provide the attraction and allure of the more expensive jewelry.
Another object of the invention is to provide a finger ring which can be used readily by the wearer by easy assembly and interchangeability of gemstones of all sizes and cuts.
A still further object of the invention is to enhance the wearer's ability to alter the ring stone to match a particular style of dress, occasion or the person's mood.
Another object of the invention is to enable construction of a highly desirable fashion ring of utmost quality which would benefit the user by exemplary performance over a long service life.
Still another object of the invention is construction of a resilient ring shank such that the shank provides an inward compression to prevent inadvertent displacement of a gemstone, ball, bead or other ornamental member from its assembled position.
Yet another object of the invention is to design a spring tension in the ring shank whereby the shank will return to its original shape after a gemstone, ball or bead is removed from the ring.
A still further objective is to provide a method of manufacture for a ring to accommodate interchangeable gems, which shank will have a range from 70% to 80% tension and still have a high degree of flexibility.